Pigsâ€™ heads sent to Israel embassy, synagogue in Rome

ROME â€” Boxes containing pigsâ€™ heads were sent to the Israeli embassy in Rome and the cityâ€™s synagogue, Italian media reported Saturday.

The package mailed to the embassy in the wealthy Parioli area of the Italian capital was intercepted by police after other similar parcels were sent to the synagogue and the Jewish Museum of Rome, which is hosting an exhibit on the Holocaust.

The threats came days ahead of the International Commemoration Day in memory of the victims of the Holocaust on Monday, January 27.

â€œThose who insult the Jewish community offend Rome. We reject the intimidation outright,â€ Rome mayor Ignazio Marino said in a tweet.

The synagogueâ€™s package was delivered Friday just as staff received an anonymous phone call claiming there was a parcel bomb on site, the reports said.

Bomb disposal experts who rushed to the scene discovered the grisly head, which they believe came from a slaughterhouse.

Police are analysing fingerprints and DNA traces found on the boxes, which were sealed with packing tape and delivered by the same postal company.

Local media reported Saturday that anti-Semitic graffiti also appeared outside a municipal building in a Rome neighborhood. One graffito read â€œthe Holocaust is a lieâ€ and the second showed a swastika with the words â€œHanna [sic] Frank is a big liar,â€ Corriere Della Sera reported.

Local politician Yuri Bugli condemned the vandalism in his district, calling the perpetrators â€œcowardsâ€ and â€œunrivaled idiots.â€ He called for â€œfirm condemnationâ€ of the act, while â€œremembering each day the horrors caused by Nazi racial hatred.â€